Saturday, May 23, 2009

Same shit, different President.

"...in Obama's national security speech yesterday, he proposes to replace Guantanamo-style detention without trial with his own detention without trial, a system he calls "Indefinite Preventative Detention" through which people who are believed to be likely to commit a crime at some point in the future can be locked up forever without charge, trial, jury or appeal.

...So, can you explain to me how 'holding indefinitely...' those 'who cannot be prosecuted yet who pose a clear danger to the American people' constitutes anything but suspending habeas corpus?

It's putting people in jail, indefinitely, without proving that they've committed a crime.

...As to what should be done with people who've "expressed a desire to kill Americans," this isn't actually a crime in most countries. There are plenty of Americans who've expressed a "clear desire to kill" various foreigners. Should they be "indefinitely detained" if they fall into foreign custody? Remember that a lot of Gitmo detainees were not captured in battle, but rather turned in by corrupt warlords in exchange for cash bounties. The entire case against some of them consists of hearsay from random thugs."